Am I the only one who budgets like this

[irmanator]

I don't do all that fance excel or mvelopes stuff. I go on my banks website, on the tab for billpay, click to sort the list of bills by the last paid. This makes bills most recently paid on top. Then I scroll to the bottom and pay bills till almost out of "my" paycheck. I use my husbands for 401-k, savings,gas and groceries.

I like this cause don't always remember or like to write every penny down. My pay is capable of paying the "bills" Idk I think some people make this a whole lot harder than it has to be. (no offense intended)

I haven't been late since I adopted this method. Sometimes if I got a lot of groceries I use some of that money to pay ahead on cc that I am trying to pay off.

To me this is simple, it provides a way to make sure i don't forget anyone, (by having the program sort by date of last payment) and I pay bills first and can feel ok spending whats left over. The best part is the banks online bill pay keeps better records than I ever did. If I need to find out if I really sent a payment, Its easier than trying to read what i wrote in my check register.

[doxie]

I agree that it's nice to have your finances tracked automatically. I prefer to use mint.com, rather than just my bank's website. This way I can see what I spend in different categories over time. I have a better idea of what I really spend in a year, and where it all goes. If my financial situation were ever to change, I can easily see what my basic needs are, and where I can cut some spending.

I basically did what you are doing until a year or so ago, when I started using Mint. It got the job done. I feel now a lot more in control of my finances, and better able to set and achieve goals.

[irmanator]

I feel pretty in control, idk about your banks website but mine lets me catagorize and even give names to the accts, like calling it "my car" instead of bank name. It still knows the bank name but this way is a little more obvious to me. I can also take all kinds of crazy special reports if I want to compare things.

[humandraydel]

This method is fine....for the people that don't NEED to budget!! Most people who live "paycheck-to-paycheck" probably use this "method." In other words, they just pay bills out of their checking - until the money runs out!

The bottom line is, you need a budget to ensure you have positive monthly cash flow. Once you do, you really don't need to record every penny.

[irmanator]

I have positive cash flow, all my bills get paid and I put 125/week into saveings each week and 20% into 401k

[kork13]

Originally Posted by irmanator

Am I the only one who budgets like this

......Yes. Yes, you are.

lol

It's definitely an interesting method of staying on top of your bills. I don't think I'd be able to run that way personally--I had to re-read your OP a few times just to understand what you were describing! But as I'll always say, if it works for you, more power to you.

For me, I've been able to set up all of my bills to charge directly to my credit card or draw directly from my checking account, so the only bills I ever have to actually worry about paying are the 2 credit cards that I use. Wonderfully simple, which is pretty much my entire financial philosophy: simpler is better.

[irmanator]

I have a trust issue. Not like a finacial trust like rich ppl have. I have troubles trusting ppl or company's. Progressive a long time ago kept takin money after i cancelled the policy, so I would much rather go in and manually pay things myself.

I don't think it that complicated, I go online sort the bill pay list by the order of "date last paid" and start at the oldest and pay bills. None of them get older than a month this way.

I guess I don't understand why people put it into all those software programs and analyze it to death. Make a list make sure everyone gets paid once a month. Put designated amt into savings, Throw any extra at the cc. Now go buy groceries with whats left over.

But I guess I am the only strange one that pays bills that way. :-)

[snafu]

We each use different methods and have different motivation. I've always paid myself 1st and paid bills 2nd. I divide once-a-year bills into 12 segments whose sums are retained in chequeing until due. Some line items like auto maintenance/repair, home maintenance, appliance replacement, gifts and travel function similarly based on previous year spending. I like to know running totals of CC spending variables like gas, groceries, restaurant that could be cut to the bone if necessary or increase abruptly for travel.

[DebbieL]

What you're doing doesn't really sound like a "budget" to me. You are keeping on top of your bill payments, etc, and if your method works for you - great. For me, a budget is much more a planning tool than just allocating which bill needs to be paid which day, and from whose cheque etc. I try to include as many categories as possible and plan for what I will spend on everything - but it's more about me planning for my savings, really. I am always looking to refine it to save more money. I like the feeling of control that a budget gives me. When I'm not living on a budget, we do spend a lot more. We don't have any difficulty paying all our bills, but our savings don't accumulate as quickly if we aren't accountable to anything. I try to make my budget very realistic (which is why I have categories for everything I can think of down to haircuts, dog expenses - you name it). I give DH a far more generous spending allowance than myself, because he is more of a spender and I know he'd be miserable (and the budget would fail) with anything less. He gets a couple hundred to blow, I get $60.

Bottom line, if your method works for you and you're happy with it then it is right for you. I have become so much more relaxed about things since switching to our current budgeting method, which may seem strange because it is such a structured budget. At least I know all the spending has been planned for, and the fun stuff is also included in there.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by DebbieL

I have become so much more relaxed about things since switching to our current budgeting method, which may seem strange because it is such a structured budget. At least I know all the spending has been planned for, and the fun stuff is also included in there.

Ditto. Keeping a budget, and tracking my expenses has made me much more relaxed about my money over time. I know that I'm saving plenty for the future, I'm meeting all of my financial obligations, and I also am able know without a doubt that I can afford things I enjoy in spite of the expense.

Within the week I'll be buying a piano for $3000, which is 3x more than I was planning to spend (I decided to get an acoustic upright vice a digital). But I'm perfectly okay with that, because I know I can afford it, and I've saved up the money to be able to pay for it in cash (literally, ¥240,000 in cash. Credit cards are used way less here, so the ATM is gonna go nuts spitting out that much for me!)

[humandraydel]

Originally Posted by irmanator

I have positive cash flow, all my bills get paid and I put 125/week into saveings each week and 20% into 401k

I know - that was my point. You can do this because you've already created a budget that ensures positive cash flow. However, I think someone could get into trouble with this if they haven't taken the time to create a real budget.

Like you, my finances are basically on auto-pilot. A long time ago I created a budget that ensured positive cash flow. Now I don't have to worry about it - I just pay my bills and transfer whatever is left to savings. 99% of the time, the amount I transfer to savings is more than what my "budget" would say, because I don't spend every dollar of "entertainment" each month.

[elessar78]

I have no luck with mint. Maybe I need to start over. Mint is just a mess for me and isn't helping me keep track of jack.

I've always kept a written monthly budget, since I was in my twenties. Twice I've tried to go to software or online, but it never works for me.

Creating a budget is more than just making sure bills get paid on time. I mean that's the most basic function of the budget, but I think it helps set your financial priorities and help you work toward goals. For example, at the beginning of this year I re-did our budget to really emphasize further increasing our savings rate, went from 17% of monthly net to 25%.

Now I don't break it down into every category (like groceries, gas, entertainment) . . . we just go with our various bills and then a general fund and it works out just fine.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by irmanator

I don't do all that fance excel or mvelopes stuff...

I haven't been late since I adopted this method. Sometimes if I got a lot of groceries I use some of that money to pay ahead on cc that I am trying to pay off.

To me this is simple, it provides a way to make sure i don't forget anyone, (by having the program sort by date of last payment) and I pay bills first and can feel ok spending whats left over...

You and I have different ideas about what it means to budget your money.

Your idea is to make sure all the bills get paid.

My idea is to reduce/control spending in different categories.


As I read your method from post #1, I can easily see a way to make sure my bills got paid. But I don't see any method at all for determining if those bills were too high. How much can you afford to spend on groceries? Are you spending too much on entertainment? Is your spending causing you not to be able to save for retirement as much as you should?

Your method won't answer those type of questions.

And you likely have some number in your head about 'how much is too much to spend on groceries for a month.' I just have that number written down in my budget software.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jpg7n16

You and I have different ideas about what it means to budget your money.

Your idea is to make sure all the bills get paid.

My idea is to reduce/control spending in different categories.


As I read your method from post #1, I can easily see a way to make sure my bills got paid. But I don't see any method at all for determining if those bills were too high. How much can you afford to spend on groceries? Are you spending too much on entertainment? Is your spending causing you not to be able to save for retirement as much as you should?

Your method won't answer those type of questions.

And you likely have some number in your head about 'how much is too much to spend on groceries for a month.' I just have that number written down in my budget software.

I think JPG really nailed it here. irmanator, what you are doing is absolutely fine and clearly works for you and it is not all that different from what I do, but it is not a budget. A budget is a plan that tells you how to spend each dollar that comes in. As I've said many times, my wife and I do not budget our spending. I don't know how much we spend on groceries or dining out or clothing or gas. We do budget our savings and I know exactly what goes where in that department. But this works because, as humandraydel points out, because we don't need to watch every penny. We have sufficient income to cover all of our spending and meet our savings goals without tracking everything. Lots of people aren't that fortunate, though. They need to set limits and track carefully to avoid spending more than they have.

So yes, your system is fine but no, it won't work for many people.

[feh]

With a few exceptions, I don't even "pay bills" any more. Everything is paid automatically. I simply monitor transactions on mint.com.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by feh

With a few exceptions, I don't even "pay bills" any more. Everything is paid automatically.

Same here. The only monthly bills I actually pay are the credit card bills. Everything else is either billed to the credit cards or automatically drawn from our checking account.

[cicy33]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Same here. The only monthly bills I actually pay are the credit card bills. Everything else is either billed to the credit cards or automatically drawn from our checking account.

Now, see this way for me would not work at all. Since sometimes our pay is varied by days I don't like money being withdrawn automatically from my checking account. I keep a budget in Excel. I could be more organized and keep a monthly detailed (am still considering that!) but for now, I just see what is going out what is coming in and where we are at. We were doing really well until the last light bill. this is a perfect example of not liking auto paying/billing. My light bill literally doubled in one month and we were already turning the heat down to 66 at night and watching lights. But I was very unprepared for it but when it happened I was still able to handle it because I go online to pay it. If it had been an auto draw and I didn't have that much on that day in there I would have been screwed. and i am talking about a 150 bill jumping to $300. We aren't the type to have a everflowing money supply so we are the type that has to watch every penny and be sure we are not getting behind. Fortunately we don't have any credit cards, car payemnts and the house is paid off.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cicy33

Now, see this way for me would not work at all.

If it had been an auto draw and I didn't have that much on that day in there I would have been screwed. and i am talking about a 150 bill jumping to $300.

Exactly what I was saying. Folks with a tighter budget need to watch things much more closely for obvious reasons. We are fortunate to be able to keep an adequate balance in our account so an extra couple hundred dollars on a bill wouldn't affect anything.

The reason I don't auto-pay the credit card bills is because those bills are more substantial, typically $3,000+/month and we don't keep that much extra in the account. I need to see that bill before paying it and occasionally need to hold it until payday or even transfer money into the account if we made a particularly large charge, like if we were on vacation that month.

[AmySL]

I just give up when it comes to financial management.

[snafu]

AmySL: Welcome. Please don't 'give up' on financial management. I agree it feels difficult at 1st but so does anything worth doing. When you finally get control of the money instead of the money controlling you...it's a huge EUREKA relief.

If you're willing to post your money issues, I'm sure you'll get several suggestions to choose from since we all have different money mindsets.